Ruth Shurman
agent: Natalie Spanier - natalie@sternwild.com
Ruth is an award-winning Executive Producer and Showrunner who loves telling powerful factual stories that connect with international and UK audiences. She has a track record of creating ambitious, entertaining and thought-provoking projects for Disney +, National Geographic, BBC and C4. She also works as a consultant EP, highly effective in the edit and in development.
Most recently as Showrunner on Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, Ruth produced the 6-part premium series from pre-production to delivery, collaborating with A-list talent and devising a global science / adventure show with the authenticity of Chris’ experience and emotion at its core. Over the course of three years, Ruth led the large production team for Nutopia, oversaw complex, cinematic shoots with highly regarded directors, built a close and fruitful relationship with co-producers Protozoa Pictures, and rose to the challenge of responding to the evolving vision of the broadcaster.
Subsequently, Ruth was EP on location in Antarctica, for the forthcoming Pole to Pole with Will Smith (w/t) for National Geographic / Disney +, taking Will way outside his comfort zone in Earth’s most extreme conditions.
Ruth’s versatility as an Executive Producer is grounded in many years’ experience, first as a journalist and then a film-maker. She is skilled in navigating demanding compliance and finding accessible ways of interpreting complex subjects.
Projects include the Grierson Award-winning, BAFTA-nominated My Dad, the Peace Deal and Me (BBC), which required fair handling of the contentious history of Northern Ireland, alongside Patrick Kielty’s account of his father’s murder by paramilitary gunmen. In the same year, Ruth won a second Grierson award and BAFTA nomination for a very different project: the debut series of Celebrity Hunted, for C4.
While Executive Producing multiple shows at BBC Studios and Dragonfly TV, Ruth developed her interest in combining sensitive observational documentary storytelling with specialist factual content, such as in the hit series, Surgeons at the Edge of Life. She also enjoys innovative and playful approaches to narrative, such as employing immersive theatre techniques to confront Chris Hemsworth with his own mortality in a specially constructed retirement village, populated with a cast of genuine octogenarians.
She is a supportive and meticulous team leader, dedicated to excellence at every stage of the production process.
Currently Ruth is preparing for a shoot in Antarctica, with A-list talent, for a major new National Geographic / Disney + series.